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UnevenEdge

ITT: idk where my fucking water comes from


garbagepailcat

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We have a pressure tank in the basement that clicks on when our water is used. We have sediment in our hot water heater. Well water. Boom. Okay. Cool. We can’t find our fucking well anywhere though. 

Called local water company to see if city water had ever been ran up to the house cause we might want to switch to something more familiar. They say no. Never. It’ll cost 900 just to tie in at the road, not even considering the seven acres of piping. Fuck me, right? 

Well I’ll be goddamned if I didn’t get a bill from the water company saying they’re going to shut our water off. WHAT? HOW?! 

Lady says that we have to pay the bill before they come show us where our water lines are ran. Mind you, we called and they said water had never been ran up our mountain. 

So do I have well water? Do I have city water? If they turn off the water, will I still have water? I’m going to find out. 

Tldr: I’m a toddler homeowner. I hate the incompetence and inconsistency that I’m experiencing. I’m about to go politely yet firmly speak to someone in person until I cry about the confusion and make everyone feel real weird  

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH 

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1 hour ago, Naraku4656 said:

i wouldn't pay anything

I won’t until I know that the water runs to the house itself. There is a mysterious water spigot near a garden that might be hooked to the city. It’s weird cause the bill is only for 2,000 gals of water, but we have definitely used more than that. There’s so much confusion. 

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1 hour ago, garbagepailcat said:

We have a pressure tank in the basement that clicks on when our water is used. We have sediment in our hot water heater. Well water. Boom. Okay. Cool. We can’t find our fucking well anywhere though. 

Called local water company to see if city water had ever been ran up to the house cause we might want to switch to something more familiar. They say no. Never. It’ll cost 900 just to tie in at the road, not even considering the seven acres of piping. Fuck me, right? 

Well I’ll be goddamned if I didn’t get a bill from the water company saying they’re going to shut our water off. WHAT? HOW?! 

Lady says that we have to pay the bill before they come show us where our water lines are ran. Mind you, we called and they said water had never been ran up our mountain. 

So do I have well water? Do I have city water? If they turn off the water, will I still have water? I’m going to find out. 

Tldr: I’m a toddler homeowner. I hate the incompetence and inconsistency that I’m experiencing. I’m about to go politely yet firmly speak to someone in person until I cry about the confusion and make everyone feel real weird  

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH 

 

  Okay. I'll try to go through this one at a time.

1. The pressure tank might just be there to increase pressure. It probably means well water (you should get your water tested yearly in that case), or it could be low pressure from the city. Check your basement for the main shut-off for your water. At least that way you will know which general direction to search for a well.

2. Are you on septic or city sewer. I'd bet septic (use Rid X once a month), but the bill might be for sewer service.

3. If the city is being crappy about marking a line, call 811 and tell them you are going to be digging. You don't have to tell them what or why, if they insist tell them you are putting in a fence, but they will  come out and mark any utilities such as water/electric/gas for free.

5. Don't pay the bill until after you have called 811 and had them come out to mark. If they don't mark any water lines, call the water dept. and tell them you want to know why you have a bill since you don't have a service.

6. Good luck. :)

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Did the bill have a meter number on it?

Also 811 or "Dig Alert" doesn't do you any good.  Utility markers are used by contractors for the purpose of locating service lines upstream of a meter, usually within a space you mark out with white paint.  If you don't know where the meter is, then you probably won't know where to mark the ground to identify where the service line is.

If you know roughly where water is entering your house, then you could hire a leak detection service (usually a local plumber) to trace the lines outside of the house.

Edited by scoobdog
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i remember as a kid, having an artesian well with a collection trough (yeah, an open trough that anything could just fall into) in the basement, and a pump to pressurize the lines inside the house. there was no actual well pump to bring the water up. i can't imagine you've got one of those up the side of a mountain, but i guess it's possible to drill a well up there if there's appropriate runoff from farther uphill?

i'd assume you're tied into muni service somewhere, but maybe the records weren't kept very well and the wrong person wouldn't know how/where to look up your account. if the bill is a minor amount, i'd just pay it under the condition they come out and trace your service line. then if they can't, you should be able to get your money back.

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